


Officer Sharp

by stevegallacci



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 03:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11176035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevegallacci/pseuds/stevegallacci
Summary: Some months ago the excellent artist known as 'nik159' posted  on Fur Affinity a cute illustration of Officer Judy Hopps giving a ZPD sticker badge to a little weasel girl, presumably the niece of Duke Weaselton. This story is a little bit, some fifteen years later as a little adjunct to my Nick and Judy future 'what if' story (that I'll be posting separately in time) with That little girl now a new memember of the ZPD. This is also amy very first time with this site, so if a mess up please bare with me.





	Officer Sharp

Lunch break and Detective Wilde went to one of his favorite little street food vendors. It was on a tree-lined boulevard with plenty of random seating and picnic tables, public yet anonymous. As he worked on his crunchy tofu sticks, he was not surprised to see a familiar form sit nearby.

"Long time, Duke." Nick didn't look over at the little mustelid.

"Yeah, Detective."

Everyone was playing it cool to start.

"Your new gig seems to suit you." Nick had noticed that Weaselton looked rather tidy, even respectable.

"Who'd a thunk it?" Duke considered things for moment, "But I'm not here for my employment history." But he seemed reluctant to go on.

Nick could wait.

Finally, "It's my Sister's Kid, she's - . Well, me and my Sister don't get along so good, all the old biz, ya know. So I can't really keep up with family like I'd like." He rubbed his muzzle mournfully, "And I can't find out about how little Beth is doin'." He sighed. "She was the cutest little thing back in the day. Smart as a whip."

"Uhm, what do you think I could do? Parental interference and all."

"That's the thing. She's grown up. In fact, she's just graduated from the academy. She's a cop. Can you believe it?"

Nick was surprised. He had heard that there was a weasel graduate this cycle, though what in the world would the ZPD do with a class B size mammal was beyond him. Little Rodentia had its own security force, all class A tiny creatures, but class B were in the general population, and even Nick and Judy in their time as patrol officers often had a hard time dealing with larger trouble.

"That's your Niece? Color me impressed." Nick then considered, "So, what's the problem?"

"I don't know how she feels about me. I haven't seen her in, like fifteen years, and I don't know if she'd even want to see me."

Nick frowned, just a little. "And why do you want to see her?"

Duke grimaced, "Just to let her know I always thought about her. And, while I wasn't always on the right side of the law, I'm proud of her for what's she's doing."

"So - you want me to what? Sound her out? Ask if she wants anything to do with her old jailbird Uncle?"

"Cheeze! Wilde! Always looking for the cheap shot." But he almost smiled, seeing the wicked little grin on Nick's muzzle. "Okay, you got me."

"Yeah. I can do that. She's in our precinct even, so it ought to be no sweat."

0000

Back at the precinct, Nick was surprised that Elizabeth Sharp was assigned to SWAT, and had to wait until the unit got back from an incident. In the meantime, he found out that she had been chosen for her size and intelligence for special insertion and surveillance. Remote sensing technology still had some critical weaknesses and being able to get live eyes into a situation and assess the circumstance on the spot, especially with a good nose to help, would be a hoped for improvement.

From what Nick could find out so far was that Officer Sharp was too new to yet prove her worth in a real incident, thankfully, such were rare, but she had drilled well.

Well, if she was going to be out for a while, then back to the office.

Avila was waiting for him, a pawfull of files ready to deal with.

"Ya know, you're never going to get on my good side with that kind of greeting." Nick recoiled in mock effrontery.

"But my Capitan, how can the forces of E-vile be kept at bay without the paperwork?"

"Yes, you're right." Nick deflated in dismay.

Later, when he got a free moment, he checked to see if the SWAT team was back yet, and was happy to note that they were en route at the moment.

Nick figured they would need some time to gear off and such so waited until close to closing to find the new officer. When he did go to the SWAT office, he was met by the unit commander, a tough looking wolverine named Smith.

"So what do we owe the pleasure, Detective Wilde?"

"Well Captain Smith, just wanted a brief personal bit with your new officer."

"Sharp? Well, you'll have to wait a mo. She just got her first darting, so has to do the drill."

"Really? What happened, or can I ask?"

"It's okay. There was a domestic turned hostage. Negotiation wasn't working and we were afraid it was going to go out of control."

"Uhm." Nick knew all too well how that could go.

"She was able to get in and not only keep us assessed on how things were going, but was able to safely take down the actor when it looked like things were going sour." Captain Smith beamed at the thought.

"That's great." Nick was delighted that her first test had gone so well.

"Yeah. I kind of dreaded having someone like her on the team, ya know? But she's got what it takes to do the job."

"As do we all." And they shared a look. Nick knew that Captain Smith was also the first of his kind on the force and not without some small controversy. But like Nick himself, demonstrated that he could perform above and beyond stereotype.

Presently, the small Mustelid in question came up to report. Even when upright, Nick couldn't help but notice the almost snaky fluidity to her movements. She was still in her tactical suit, a variation of Judy's classic look, but without the torso cover and wearing a utility vest instead.

"Captain, I just got cleared with the initial debrief." Sharp chirped, awaiting orders.

"Well, other than the obligatory paperwork, you're good. Though Detective Wilde would like a minute with you." The Wolverine nodded to them both and shuffled off.

"Sir?" Sharp showed just a bit of awe and trepidation at being in the attention of the Famous Fox.

"Don't worry kid. I'm just co-worker Nick at the moment. Nothing official." Nick considered how to approach the topic. He had to remind himself that though she looked like the cutest little kit of a weasel and too young to possibly be an officer, how she could be related to that raggedity-ass Duke was a mystery, she was also among the brightest and best of the new ZPD.

"Do you recall your Uncle Duke?"

"Sure. I know he was a character, but we got along fine. He'd baby-sit for me or take me out for stuff when Mom was at work." She smiled briefly in the memory, then flicked to concern. "He's not- ?"

"In trouble, again? No, nothing like that." Nick smiled. "He just wanted to hear about how you were doing and such." Then proceeded a bit warily, "He indicated he and your Mother don't quite - ."

"Oh gosh yes." A little sad face. "I knew from fairly early on that he was, ya know. But my Mom did have some affection for him, and he really helped with keeping an eye on me." She sighed, "But he got arrested one too many times and she was getting some guilt by association trouble. So that was the end of that."

"Well, he's gone straight for a few years now. Doing okay. But like I said, he was wondering how you were doing."

Sharp shook her head in a wistful fashion, "Uncle Duke -. Sure. In fact, do you have a contact number or anything for him?"

"Sure." And Nick offered her Duke's 'phone number.

"Thanks. It will be fun to see him again." She thought a moment of better times. "Huh. You know, it was hearing about you and Hopps that got me to thinking about law enforcement in the first place. And it was while I was out with Uncle Duke that I actually met Hopps. She even gave me one of those sticker badges. Still have it."

Nick recalled his sticker badge with a bit of a twinge. "I'll tell her about that. She must have handed out a million of those things back in the day. At least one of them finally did some good."

00000

"Guess who I saw today?"

Judy gave her fox such a look, as she hated his 'guess who' line.

Seeing the expression, "Okay, it was Duke Weaselton."

"Really? Hope it wasn't in an official capacity."

"Nope, he's still a sterling example of Zootopian ideals." Said with a bit of an eye roll. "He wanted me to reach out and reconnect with his Niece."

"Oh, that little kit - Beth - was it?" While Judy didn't 'know everyone' the way Nick did, she did have a good head for anyone she did meet.

"As a matter of fact, she took you sticker badge to heart and she's now Officer Sharp, with Precinct One's SWAT unit."

"Wait a minute. I heard about Sharp, first weasel on the force and all that. That was little Beth?"

"Uhuh. And she was out in her first action today. A righteous darting in a domestic gone bad."

"Wow. That's - wow." Judy shook her head. Then glanced to the sound of the Twins in the next room. "Think they'd ever?"

Nick shrugged. "Almost hope they don't."

Judy gave him a puzzled look.

"I just want them to choose their own path. No pressure to follow in footsteps or anything like that. And if they did, they'd be constantly compared, judged even, against our legacy."

Judy grimaced with that. "Yeah, that would be the opposite of good."

"Not good?" Nick prompted, and they both chuckled at the little 'Duke-ism'.


End file.
